Just look at all the transfers who are in the Sweet 16

Iowa State should give hope to every Power 5 school this month that has replaced its coach and will have to count on transfers to produce.

Former coach Steve Prohm was fired March 15, 2021. T.J. Otzelberger was announced as the new coach on March 18. Iowa State announced its first incoming transfer on March 24; the last of the six was announced in early May. Friday, Iowa State will play in its first Sweet 16 game in six years. Yes, almost exactly a year after being hired and having to overhaul his roster after losing seven of the top nine holdovers, including all five starters, Otzelberger has his team in the Sweet 16.

And it’s not as if Otzelberger was giving Iowa State a minor makeover. The Cyclones were coming off a 2-22 season, including a 0-18 mark in the Big 12. It was the school’s fewest wins since 1924-25 and its first winless conference season since 1936-37.

Otzelberger and his staff hit the transfer portal, bringing in six newcomers. Three are fulltime starters. The other three are Iowa State’s top reserves, and two of those have made a handful of starts each.

At his introductory news conference last March, Otzelberger talked about building the foundation that would create long-term success. A month later, he told the Des Moines Register that the best way to build confidence is through winning “so you can’t say this is a rebuild or a start over. We looked at it much more as a reboot.”

Well, the reboot has been successful.

Iowa State isn’t the only team left standing that has relied heavily on transfers this season. Fourteen of the Sweet 16 brought in transfers in the offseason, and nine have transfers who start. In all, there are 19 transfer starters, and six Sweet 16 teams have at least two transfers who start. There are two teams with three transfer starters, and one team starts four transfers.

Here’s a look by region at the transfers from four-year schools who came in during the offseason.

East Region

3. Purdue

The buzz: The only team left in the field with no scholarship transfers on the roster. We don’t mean transfers for this season; we mean transfers at all. In fact, of the top 12 players, nine are home-grown Indiana natives.
The starters: None
Key reserves: None

4. UCLA

The buzz: There’s one transfer on the roster.
The starters: None.
Key reserves: C Myles Johnson (18.3 minutes per game, 3.6 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game, 1.3 blocks per game), from Rutgers.

8. North Carolina

The buzz: There are two transfers.
The starters: F Brady Manek (29.5 mpg, 15.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 39.5 3-pt FG%), from Oklahoma. (Note: C Dawson Garcia, from Marquette, started 12 of his first 16 games before being injured.)
Key reserves: None.

15. Saint Peter’s

The buzz: There’s one transfer.
The starters: None
Key reserves: G Isiah Dasher (18.0 mpg, 4.8 ppg), from Portland

South Region

1. Arizona

The buzz: There are two transfers.
The starters: None.
Key reserves: G Justin Kier (20.1 mpg, 6.9 ppg), from Georgia.

2. Villanova

The buzz: None (there is one transfer who arrived before the 2019-20 season)
The starters: None
Key reserves: None

5. Houston

The buzz: There are two.
The starters: G Kyler Edwards (33.7 mpg, 13.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.0 steals per game), from Texas Tech. F Taze Moore (30.7 mpg, 10.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.5 spg), from Cal State Bakersfield.
Key reserves: None

11. Michigan

The buzz: There is one.
The starters: G DeVante’ Jones (28.7 mpg, 10.4 ppg, 4.6 assists per game, 1.0 spg), from Coastal Carolina
Key reserves: None

Midwest Region

1. Kansas

The buzz: There are four.
The starters: None are fulltime starters, though Remy Martin has started about half the games when he has been healthy.
Key reserves: G Jalen Coleman-Lands (8.8 mpg, 4.0 ppg), from Iowa State. G Remy Martin (20.8 mpg, 8.1 ppg, 2.6 apg), from Arizona State. G Joseph Yesufu (9.7 mpg, 2.3 ppg), from Drake.

4. Providence

The buzz: There are two.
The starters: G Al Durham (34.2 mpg, 13.3 ppg, 3.4 apg, 84.4 FT%), from Indiana. F Justin Minaya (33.0 mpg, 6.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg), from South Carolina.
Key reserves: None

10. Miami

The buzz: There are two.
The starters: F Jordan Miller (30.9 mpg, 10.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.8 spg, 55.3 FG%), from George Mason. G Charlie Moore (32.5 mpg, 12.8 ppg, 4.6 apg, 2.1 spg, 37.7 3-pt FG%), from DePaul
Key reserves: None

11. Iowa State

The buzz: There are six.
The starters: G Izaiah Brockington (34.5 mpg, 17.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.3 spg, 77.5 FT%), from Penn State. F Tristan Enaruna (14.7 mpg, 4.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg), from Kansas. F Gabe Kalscheur (30.7 mpg, 9.5 ppg, 1.3 spg), from Minnesota.
Key reserves: G Caleb Grill (24.1 mpg, 6.5 ppg, 1.0 spg), from UNLV. F Robert Jones (12.1 mpg, 2.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg), from Denver. F Aljaz Kunc (22.2 mpg, 6.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 39.4 3-pt FG%), from Washington State.

West Region

1. Gonzaga

The buzz: There is one.
The starters: G Rasir Bolton (26.7 mpg, 11.3 ppg, 47.0 3-pt FG%), from Iowa State.
Key reserves: None

2. Duke

The buzz: There is one.
The starters: None
Key reserves: C/F Theo John (11.4 mpg, 2.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg), from Marquette

3. Texas Tech

The buzz: First-year coach Mark Adams also hit the transfer portal hard; there are six.
The starters: G Adonis Arms (25.5 mpg, 8.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.7 apg), from Winthrop. F Kevin Obanor (25.6 mpg, 10.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg), from Oral Roberts. G Davion Warren (24.2 mpg, 9.7 ppg, 3.1 RPG, 1.6 spg), from Hampton. F Bryson Williams (25.4 mpg, 13.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 53.7 FG%), from UTEP.
Key reserves: G Mylik Wilson (15.7 mpg, 2.6 ppg, 1.2 spg), from Louisiana.

4. Arkansas

The buzz: There are five.
The starters: F Au’Diese Toney (32.3 mpg, 10.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 79.1 FT%), from Pitt. F Stanley Umude (27.8 mpg, 12.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.0 spg), from South Dakota. F Trey Wade (16.3 mpg, 3.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg), from Wichita State.
Key reserves: G Chris Lykes (18.0 mpg, 8.0 ppg, 1.0 spg), from Miami.